CNN bans Ryan Girdusky after racist attack on Mehdi Hasan
A cable news discussion on “CNN Newsnight with Abby Phillip” on Monday night took a shocking turn when conservative panelist Ryan Girdusky attacked journalist Mehdi Hasan, leading to the former being banned from the network.
During a discussion about Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Girdusky told Hasan, “I hope your pager doesn’t go off,” referring to the recent Israeli attacks on members of the terrorist group Hezbollah, detonating explosives in pagers. The comment came after Hasan said he is a “supporter of the Palestinians.”
Hasan, a journalist who is Muslim and is the founder and editor-in-chief of Zeteo News, was shocked by the statement and asked, “Did you just tell me to die?”
CNN quickly released a statement, posted on social media by Phillip, who bans Girdusky from the network.
“There is no room for racism or bigotry on CNN or in our broadcasts,” the statement said. “We strive to promote thoughtful conversations and debates, including between people who strongly disagree, to explore important issues and promote mutual understanding. But we will not allow guests to be humiliated or the line of politeness to be crossed. Ryan Girdusky will no longer be welcome in our network.”
After the segment, Phillip announced that she had fired Girdusky during the commercial break, saying, “There’s a line crossed there, and it’s not acceptable to me.” It is not acceptable to us on this network. We want discussion. We want people who disagree with each other to talk to each other. But if you cross the line into a complete lack of civility, that’s not going to happen here on this show. It’s a heated time. We are in the middle of a political season. We are still eight days away from the presidential election, but we can have conversations about what is happening in this country without resorting to the lowest of the low types of discourse.”
Girdusky attacked the network after CNN’s decision: write on X that “You can stay on CNN if you falsely call every Republican a Nazi and have taken money from Qatari-funded media. Apparently you can’t get on CNN if you make a joke. I’m glad America sees what CNN stands for.”
